horourke's reviews
93 reviews

Exceptional prose and a compelling tale of girlhood, the first knowledge of sex and power, manipulation, and desire. I’m always enthralled by stories of cults, and the point of view of a 14 year old girl really illustrates how susceptible people can be to the influence of a charismatic leader. I wish the lead up to the climax was a bit more fleshed out - Evie seemed far removed from the degradation of the ranch, the “sourness” that infected them. But I guess that was the point - their lives went on without her, spiraling into insanity and violence. How could she have known what would happen? After all, she was just a girl. 

A fast-paced and fun read. The plot twist was a bit ridiculous and did require some suspension of disbelief to get through. The ending really dragged, which was disappointing as the rest of the book was so quick-moving. It could’ve all ended in the mansion, IMO. I also was not a huge fan of the book-within-a-book. Still, I enjoyed reading it and devoured it within a few days. 

The narrator was so insufferable with only the slightest glimmer of redemption at the end, but even that wasn’t enough. The bulk of the novel follows a mother being violently homophobic to her daughter and her daughter’s girlfriend. She berates the two women and loathes their very existence. She only kind of begins to “get it” when she sees the discrimination and violence her daughter faces firsthand, but even then, she can’t even bring herself to say the word “gay.” Felt bad that she spent her entire life turning a blind eye to anything out of the ordinary, but at the same time, she didn’t seem very motivated to change that about herself. Even when faced with her daughter’s girlfriend moving in, she begs her to break up with her and find a husband. Just delusional. The girlfriend is better than me because if I had to live with my partner’s homophobic mom and get berated daily, I would leave in an instant. Also the narrator is really the only fully fledged character in the book, we only learn surface level details about her daughter, her partner, and Jen, and even then those details are more about occupation than personality. Main takeaway is that Green doesn’t deserve Lane and the mom needs to get a grip. 

Enjoyed this novel a lot more than I thought I would. Really tender story that explores grief, loss, love, and found family. While heartbreaking at times, it was touching and never felt gratuitous. Wish there was a bit more exploration of the gay themes, but I’m not mad about it. 

Beautifully written and compelling story. It breaks my heart how difficult life is and has been for women, especially in the early centuries. The author’s note at the end detailing the fate of Lucrezia’s sisters is at once dark, depressing, and unsurprising. 

Throughout the novel, I wished that our protagonist stood up for herself more, or intuited better ways to navigate the life she was given. However, I cannot imagine being 15, married, and flung into a new life in a new city where I know no one and have no true allies. She did the best she could with the life she was given. I’m just glad this novel had a happy ending. 

well, that sure was … something! interesting concept and enjoyed how fast-paced it was — definitely a page turner. however, did NOT need to be 700 pages long and I deserve financial compensation for the amount of times I had to read the phrase “mommy tits.” 

Interesting meditation on the mundanity of everyday life. Wish there was more of a resolution at the end. 

Not the best but not the worst. Taddeo is so helplessly heterosexual and her characters are, too.